Primed for sin // Peaky Blinders

Part 1

Birmingham was not the place for the lighthearted, the naive and the innocent. Even the children here were born with blood on their hands, moral corruption seeping into their veins and tainting them black at such a young age.

The smog and smoke acted as a barrier between the city and the sky, blocking out God's watchful eyes so that even the stars could not keep the wanderers company. And without God as their witness, was what the people of Birmingham do truly that bad?

Small Heath was powered by one family and one gang, they rode hand in hand together. The Shelby's were a family that had built themselves up from the lowest of the low, feet that was once stuck in the unforgiving mud of the city were now washed away by the wind, bringing them higher to the top.

The Peaky blinders ran the city, taking the eyes of the men that dared to step out of line. They weren't all bad though. It just depended on where you stood in the line of loyalty. But if you crossed one peaky boy, you crossed them all : a lesson that Small Heath had once learnt the hard way.

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

"I'm so fucked" escaped the chapped lips of the wide eyed girl, staring unblinkingly at a patch of scorched grass, lit cigarette dangling between her fingers.

"That you are" came a voice from her left. Unworldly, she lifted up her hand and he took the cigarette from them, taking a long drag before chuckling slightly.

"I don't know why you're laughing, this is all you fault" she snapped at him, shuffling slightly as the brick was irritating her back. She would've taken more notice, if only for the fact she wasn't numbed with dread.

"I didn't think you'd actually go through with it!" He defended himself, handing the shared cigarette back.

Only a few feet over was there flames tickling the sky, painting the already bleak air in a hue of reds and blacks. The flames danced in her eyes, highlighting the paleness of her skin : it would be almost beautiful, if not for the situation she was in.

Mothers ran through the school gates, wrapping their children in warm hugs and kissing them sweetly, hurrying away from the burning school. They all glanced at the girl, fear riddling their bones.

"Would you fucking look at them all! How does everyone know it was me?" She asked, looking up at her best friend for help.

"You're covered in soot" he shrugged.

A sigh escaped her before she could help it, trying to remove all evidence that she was apart of this misfortune by wiping of the ash that acted as a barrier from her skin. Her shirt was untucked and slightly shorter than before she left the house, as flames had scorched the clothing and burnt part of it to ashes. Her hair was all frizz, standing high upon her head whilst her eyes dropped.

"Tommy'll fucking kill me" she added, already feeling the disappointment her brother would surly show as she bashed her head against the wall.

"Mhm, I'll write you an exceptional eulogy" he said, false sincere lacing his tone as he tried his best not to smile. Suddenly, his face went stoic, his foot kicking her thigh before he could even register his movements.

"And there he is, storming towards us. I'll be off then" he muttered out quickly, running in the opposite direction of the fuming Shelby.

"Pussy" she whispered, but not daring to look up herself.

Tommy's strides were long and unforgiving, his stare on the downturned head of his sister. When the headmaster of her school had rung to say "Miss Shelby has burnt down the left wing of the academy" he almost shot someone.

He didn't bother with pleasantries, his arm shooting down to grip her shoulder and hoisting her up before she could so much as demand him to stop. He pushed her body in front of him, Rosella quickly understanding the meaning and walked ahead.

The silence was painful, cutting through her like the razor blades sewn into the Peaky caps. The walk back to number 6 Watery Lane was agonisingly slow, her thoughts wrapping her in a constant back and forth cycle of what could potentially happen when she walks through the front door.

As she pushed the door open to her aunts house, she muttered a silent prayer as she glance at the cross situated next to the door.

'Jesus, I believe you love me. Please forgive me for my sins and protect me from the wrath that is my family. Amen.' 

However, she was met with the wide smirk of her big brother John. "Ahhh, there's our little pyromaniac!" He laughed loudly, causing Arthur to stifle is own laughs, shaking his head in a 'serious' matter before Aunt Pol smacked the both of them around the head.

"Shut it John. Rosella, sit." She demanded, her tone completely serious. This was the part Rose dreaded, to have to sit and watch the disappointment stitched into her families faces, causing them more worry and stress then needed.

"It was an accident, promise!" She attempted to defend her self, arms going up to intensify her statement. She'd rather be cut a smile than admit what really happened, why the school truly burnt down.

Aunt Pol would kill her if she knew, Rose didn't even want to think about what Tommy would do to her. She'd be disowned if she said 'I was seriously contemplating murdering the stuck up prick which was Adelaide Johnson by locking her in a room of flames". Of course, Adelaide wasn't even in the room and Rose regretted it the second the match landed on the floor. But what happened, did in fact happen. She was just hoping it would remain a secret.

"Yes? We'll go on, tell Aunt Polly what happened" her aunt said, lighting her thin black cigarette before smoking it.

"James and I... we were just pissing around. Smoking a bit, that's all. The match dropped and I tried to put it out but it didn't work" she shrugged, the lie slipping of her tongue easily.

"For Christ sakes, Rose" her aunt shook her head "we'll have to pay for the damages. You'll make it up to the school as well"

"How?"

"You and James will clean up some of the mess. Anything you'd like to add, Thomas?" Her aunt asked.

Rosella dared to glance up, seeing her older brother leaning against the wall behind her. As Polly sat at the table, she couldn't help but notice how similar the two siblings were. It was uncanny, she knew Tommy saw it as well, which is why it was so hard for him to punish her, knowing he had done worse at her age.

They had the glint of the devil in their eyes, perhaps rather growing out of it, Thomas grew with it.

"You carry on this shit, Rose, and you'll be on the first train to London for finishing school" he warned her, oddly calm which scared the girl.

"What?" She asked. Like hell, she thought.

"You heard." He shrugged, smoking his cigarette.

"But-"

"No buts. I don't have time for your shit no more. You get your act together, I mean it."

"Fine"

"Fine"